


Legend of Zelda: Reunion of Three

by asterysk



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Action/Adventure, Actual Canon is respected I'm just filling in the gaping holes, All incarnations of Link are dorks, Author is Back On Their Bullshit, Calamity as a Separate Entity, Female Link (Legend of Zelda), Fluff and Angst, Gen, Of a novel kind! Not time travel more trying to keep time stable, Probably stupidly big plot ideas like usual, Reincarnation, There will be battles to be fought but no hopeless bullshit because I'm not about that trash, Time Shenanigans, We can rebuild the canon we have the technology
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-06-09
Packaged: 2020-03-17 13:26:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,759
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18966142
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/asterysk/pseuds/asterysk
Summary: Two hundred and thirty five years have passed since the Calamity was defeated. The cycle is at its weakest ever, strained by time, but so are the players. So is the world.Laika is just fifteen, and has to bear the weight of thousands of years of consequences.





	1. Flashes

Laika tripped and stumbled over her own feet as she ran, some instinctual urge propelling her away from civilization as fast as her legs could carry her. Her mind as somewhere else already, her eyes wild and distant, taking in nothing but the moonlight needed to follow the way ahead of her. If anyone had tried to stop her, she didn't know. She didn't care. Just the thought of being around people made her head spin.  
Branches seemed to reach out for her as she dove through the undergrowth, thorns catching at her skin and clothes. Light rain dripped off leaves, letting the cold seep in. Her limbs were already giving in when the ground beneath her gave way to air and gravity, and all her burning lungs could manage was a short cry of fear as she plummeted.

 

* * *

 

Unconsciousness was no respite. Her mind was making her fall over and over now, the view constantly shifting before she would ever hit the ground. Why was this happening to her? What was happening to her? Every sense of her being was aching. This couldn't be real, but it was nothing like any other dream Laika had had, too vivid, painfully so. The wind whipped round her, and with each shift of the world it carried a new scent- ocean, burning, desert, forest... It wasn't until clouds were beneath her that something finally broke her endless fall, feathers of crimson lifting her up, up and away.

Gasping for air, Laika gripped on for dear life to her rescuer, an impossibly large bird with a wingspan wider than she was tall, with a beak that could surely do some damage if it wanted to... But the alternative was freefall. It was preferable to see the clouds staying relatively static, even if they were below her.

And on the horizon, she saw another impossibility - crags suspended in the sky through some arcane means, thronged with flocks of birds the same size as the one she rode. The crimson bird was taking her there, and as they drew closer, buildings came into view.

After a moment spent circling, scouting a place to land, the bird came to rest in a town square of some kind. Laika got to her feet shakily, still not trusting the ground wouldn't give way beneath her. A beak came to steady her, slipping under her arm to give her something to hold onto, causing Laika to squeak in suprise. Now that she could actually look properly at her rescuer, she could see the spark of intelligence in the bird's eyes when she looked back. Tentatively, she let her hand drift towards it, and it responded by nuzzling into her touch. Laika found herself grinning for the first time since these goddess damned visions started plaguing her.

Footsteps, heard over the background over flapping wings and distant cries. The bird chirped in the direction of the sound behind her, and Laika tensed at the thought of someone being near her while she was like... Like this. While she was seeing things that weren't there, while anything could cause her to lapse into another vision, while she could lash out at any moment at anyone. She didn't want to turn around. Something about the presence behind her filled her with dread.

And then other feelings came washing over her. Wonder. Laughter. Hope.

The footsteps had stopped a short way behind her. They hadn't said anything. Were they as anxious as her? Who... were they? The bird looked expectantly between them with the same affection. Laika quietly reminded herself that this was a vision. Even though this was the most vivid and substantial vision she had had yet, this wasn't real.

Laika gathered her courage, and turned to face them.

As the dream scattered into a flurry of disjointed flashes, all Laika could think about was the inexplicable knowledge that, despite the stranger's different face, they had the same soul.


	2. Dawning

"...Laika? C'mon kiddo, you gotta wake up to eat."

Laika groaned as a hand gently shook her out of sleep, and then winced as the dull pain registered. Groggily, she opened her eyes.

"Hey kiddo. I made stew for you. Figured you'd want comfort food." Laika's dad smiled softly, peering over his glasses. "Though, you'll need to sit up to eat it." He waited patiently with the steaming bowl as Laika blinked- or rather, fought away the return of sleep. Slowly, the light of recognition switched on in her eyes.

"...How- how did I get back here?" Her voice was croaky and rasped, the dryness in her throat all too suddenly pressing on her mind. A glass of water beckoned to her from her bedside, and she took it gratefully, almost choking with how fast she downed it.

"One of the Goron miners found you out cold at the bottom of one of the quarries. You've slept since he brought you back here." He paused to put the bowl in the glass's place so he could hold Laika's hand gently. "Probably the most sleep you've had in weeks."

Laika shrunk away at the unwelcome reminder. "... 'M not safe to be around, Dad."

Her hand was squeezed tightly as she mumbled this. "Laika. You're ill. We all know you'd never mean to hurt someone." He brushed a lock of messed up hair away to plant a kiss on her forehead. "And when people are ill, others take care of them. No buts, kiddo."

Laika rested her head on his shoulder after a moment's hesitation. "Love you, Dad."

 

* * *

 

What wounds Laika had were thankfully superficial. By the next morning she was able to wake up and get out of bed like normal. This really was the most sleep she had had in weeks, being free from visions since the fall. Still, Laika was reluctant to leave the house in the event they returned...

She sat on the small roof terrace, watching the life of town go by all around as the sun shone overhead. Yet another beautiful day in Tarrey Town. The market promenade down below was filled with people of all races buying and selling all kinds of things like usual, and the walkways between the different levels and groups of buildings thronged with people. People she was a danger to. Laika looked at the waterfalls of Lanayru in the distance, and found herself thinking back to the last vision she had had, still solid in her mind unlike all the others.

The person she had seen... Okay, maybe he looked kinda like her to begin with, but that didn't explain why thinking back to him made her eyes sting and her head swirl as if trying to focus on something just out of sight. The vision had been so stable until she met him, and then it fell away, leaving her with the feeling that some sort of answer was just out of reach. Laika screwed up her eyes as a wave of dizziness washed over her, and she gripped onto the railing for some grounding.

"Laika! Down here!"

She opened her eyes to see a young Zora- of all of them, Beau- waving enthusiastically from the walkway below. All that remained of the horrible cut that once snaked its way down the side of her face was a few missing scales revealing slight scabs.

Seemingly noticing Laika's hesitancy, Beau pointed to the remains of the wound. "It's fine! See! It'll be gone in a week thanks to Yuki! Don't worry about it!"

Laika still couldn't speak, simply gripping the railing tighter.

"Can I come up-?"

"NO!" Laika blurted out in a panic. Bile threatened to bubble up her throat as the memory of Beau clutching at her face, fallen to the floor, resurged. The memory of how her mind had been somewhere else, somewhere terrifying, and when she came back to reality, she was clutching one of Dad's screwdrivers, covered in blood.

A tear rolled down her face to splash down on the ground.

Laika barely registered the sound of the door opening, the sound of someone coming upstairs. When the window onto the roof terrace creaked open, Beau's voice came through it. "If you're that scared of it happening again, how about this?"

Laika looked over to see the Zora's face framed perfectly by the window, smiling ruefully. "I get that you feel bad but Mom always says that talking about things makes them better. Because I know you didn't mean it!"

Laika sighed and reluctantly walked over to the window. "Mean it or not, I hurt you, Beau."

"Pshh, c'mon, we get hurt all the time doing our stuff. Practice for Yuki to perfect her magic." Beau giggled, her head fin swaying slightly. "I mean, look. There's barely anything left of it, and that's only, like, a day."

A silence fell between them as Laika shuffled uncomfortably and played with the hem of her top, lost in loops of thought.

"Hey. Laika." Beau jolted her out of her overthinking. "You don't have to feel better straight away. I really just wanted to say, I'm not mad at you. Your dad told me that you've been having some kinda problem like nightmares and stuff and that's why you've been out of it recently... And I've been really bored while you've been like this because basically no one else is down for stuff like frog bombing people in the market." Beau grinned a grin full of sharp teeth. "So you can't be like this forever, I won't allow it. You can't let a few bad dreams beat you!"

With that Beau had taken off, running downstairs and back outside. She waved as ran back along the walkway out of sight.

 

* * *

 

However the visions might have changed, Laika still felt uncomfortable in town. She hadn't had another full vision yet, but she kept having flashes out the corner of her eye of things that weren't there when she looked closer. People that looked similar but different, the landscape shifting slightly; even her dinner, for the briefest of moments, made her think of another meal she couldn't ever remember having. It did look delicious though...

The next day, after Laika had reassured her Dad that she wasn't going to go running into quarries again, she took a bit of a walk outside the bustle of town.

There was a place few people knew of, despite it being relatively close to the main road around the lake. Tucked away down a short dip, through a thicket of trees, lay an alcove that lead into a cavern. The plants spilled into the cave, lit by luminous stones, gently glowing flowers, and a golden light that shone from a fountain situated at the cavern's end.

"Mija?" Laika jogged down the otherwise gently trod path, skidding to a halt at the water's edge. "It's Laika!"

A rumbling was the only warning before a gigantic figure erupted from the water, droplets sent scattering into sparkles. The woman took a moment to stretch her arms and smooth her long lilac hair before she leant against the fountain's edge to bring herself to a more suitable eye level. "It's been a while hasn't it dear? In fact..." Mija lifted a hand and held it palm open beside Laika for a moment. "Why, yes! You've grown some more! At this rate, maybe if you're lucky, you'll get as big as me?" Mija withdrew her hand and laughed. "How have things been, my dear?"

Laika sat down by the edge, letting a hand dangle in the glowing waters briefly. "...Mija? I've been having... They're kinda like... Visions."

Mija's warm smile faltered into concern. "From your tone, I take it they're troubling you."

Laika pulled her knees to her chest. "...yeah. They don't make much sense, a lot of them are really scary, and... And I hurt someone because of one of them. And she- Beau, I mean- she says it's okay but... But I don't know what to do."

The Great Fairy Mija was uncharacteristically quiet in the moments that followed. "...what kind of visions, girl?"

"...I don't remember a lot of details but... Monsters. And I'm fighting them? But there's also a lot of different people, and places I've never seen... I last had one a couple of days ago and it was the clearest one. I was falling through so many places, and then I was in the sky. A giant red bird caught me, and took me to this floating island. I saw someone there... And my head hurts when I think about them."

"Hmm. I see." Mija looked into the distance as she thought. "...He said this might happen..."

Laika scrambled to her feet. "W-who said?!"

Mija winced as she realised she had said her thoughts out loud. "...In time dear. How are you with your history?"

"History? Um... Well... 300 years ago there was something called the Calamity..."

Black smoke. Red moons. Blue tunics.

Mija seemed to hold her breath as Laika paused. "Go on, please."

"...and a lot of Hyrule got destroyed."

Beams of light. Machines of malice. Pain and darkness.

"...But they managed to keep the Calamity at bay until it could be destroyed a hundred years later."

Complete darkness. Dreamless sleep. A voice.

Mija felt sorrow as she watched this small girl she had known for years come to terms with the weight of her burden. But it was better than it crushing her outright. "...Who were they?"

"...Princess Zelda... The Champions... And the... Hero."

The flashes bloomed into overwhelming light. She found herself running forward, into the open, to gaze on a Hyrule that stretched for miles and miles of wilderness and life.

But it wasn't her, it couldn't be her, but it was so real-

"Why are you asking me this!?" Laika found herself snapping.

"...To see what you remember."

So many flashes of memory- and they were memory- washed over her all at once, assaulting her senses.

Laika sobbed.

"... What's happening to me?"

The glow shining from Laika's hand left no doubt. The mark of the Triforce of Courage. And by the goddess, Mija thought, she would need every ounce she possessed.

Mija stroked the side of Laika's face oh so delicately with only her fingertip. "I'm sorry, dear. Take a moment to breathe."

Laika sunk to the ground again, as she spent all her energy trying to steady her breathing.

A minute later, Mija spoke again. "The Hero is reborn every so often. A new life, new circumstances, maybe even a new name. Always courageous, and strong in the ways that matter. Laika, you have those qualities in abundance. You might have pieced it together by now, but I think what you are experiencing are memories from your past lives."

Laika could see their faces. Dozens of them, sharing similarities and yet each so different.

One of them moved towards her. He was dressed in blue, unlike so many of the others, and he wore his hair longer and tied back. He stopped in front of her- and awkwardly erred in what to do with his hands, as he went to place a hand on her shoulder and then pulled away.

He settled with holding her hands in his, running a thumb over the golden outline still present on her hand. He smiled softly, and he reminded Laika of a big brother.

When he spoke, I was more human, more normal than what some part of her was expecting. "Hi Laika. It's good to finally get to meet you."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So that's this first bit done of my newest unwieldy fic plot idea. I still don't know exactly how to format, unbetad, shoved out at 1:30 am bc I need validation lmfao
> 
> I should add that I have literally only played breath of the wild and the four swords anniversary edition
> 
> Not making any promises with updates because hopefully that'll make them more often in the long run and avoid the anxiety 👍


	3. Breath

It was like a sudden pressure had been released in her mind. The tension that had been building for weeks let go, leaving Laika adjusting to this sudden new awareness. Her body felt foreign. Her heart pounded in her ears, and she struggled to find the air her body demanded. Looking at her hands, she could see the same faintly glowing mark that she had just seen in her vision.

"Are you okay, dear? ...This is a lot to take in, I know."

Laika blinked the stupor away, and looked back up to Mija. "I... Yeah. I actually feel better." She laughed at the absurdity. "I think I just saw them. My... past lives?"

Mija hummed as she cupped her hands around Laika, as if sheltering a flame from the world. "I'm sorry for pressing you to remember... But now that you have some context, hopefully these memories will be less confusing and frightening..." The Great Fairy sighed, creating a gust that sent swirls of magic flying. "You said you saw your past lives just now? I actually had the pleasure of meeting your previous life, way back when. He helped me and my sisters rekindle our power after decades of decay... Hmm..."

Images surfaced in Laika's mind, softer and gentler than before. A thorned bud, opening to reveal a flower shaped spring. Huh, but... "I think I remember. Wasn't your fountain outside before?"

Mija beamed. "It was! But I had to hide away a bit more when the road to Tarrey Town got so busy... I refuse to become a mere tourist trap. Besides, I needed a revamp anyway."

The Great Fairy looked at Laika with affection. She had known her for years before this, and loved her all the same. To now know she was the Hero reborn... It made sense, but it changed little as far as she was concerned.

"You asked who told me that this might happen. It was your previous life, the Hero of the Wild as they have become known. A time after they defeated the Calamity, they seemed to have a kind of premonition... I didn't get all the details, I'm afraid, but I was told this: The next hero would start remembering more of their past lives, in visions like yours."

Mija paused for a moment, and smiled sadly. "I'm sorry I don't have more help I can give you. All I can suggest is that you do what feels right to you... Past lives or none, hero or not, you have a good heart, Laika, and you're always welcome here for whatever reason you need."

Mija's worries of having overloaded the small girl in front of her were settled when Laika looked up, her eyes filled with a love that mirrored Mija's own. Laika, with the weight of her soul eased, scrambled into the waters of the fountain to give the Great Fairy as best a hug as she could.

With a chuckle, Mija lifted her up to her eye level. "You always did have a heart more fitting of someone my size than yours. Go on, dear. What's the point of having another life if you don't live it?"

"...Thank you, Mija."

The Great Fairy waited until the new hero disappeared from sight until she returned to her fountain's depths. "Good luck, little one."

 

* * *

 

Laika looked out over the Rist Sandbars from the roadside, and savoured the feeling of fresh air in her lungs. She still felt light-headed, a little shaky to be honest... But now the memories had made themselves known, Laika had room to breathe. They were still there, just beyond her thoughts, but they moved in sync now. She was still herself. Her self was just bigger now.

A sea breeze washed over her, having rolled up from the cliffs. Her memories offered themselves to her, and she accepted. Spirals of sand, islands- and ocean. So much ocean, and the winds followed their call. Island homes, warm sun shining on the buildings and piers that in some way resembled how Tarrey Town had been built.

She could have sworn for a moment that the gust that whipped round her was her doing.

"There you are Laika, have you been stood here the whole time?"

Laika almost jumped in suprise, turning to look up at her dad. Her _dad_. Of course she had a dad. Her startled, staring gaze melted, leaving tears as she remembered she had her own life, right this second. It was here, present, physical. Huggable. Face buried in his jacket, he smelt of metal and grease and the saffina scented soap he always used to wash it all off. The spare parts tucked into his pockets dug in a little uncomfortably.

"Laika? Are you alright?"

"Yeah." She looked up again, grinning, eyes still damp but gleaming like the light off the sea. "I'm feeling a lot better, actually."

The comforts of home had never seemed so precious.

 

* * *

 

The light-headed feeling had stayed long past its welcome, and it had grown more suffocating as they walked into town. Something felt wrong again. It felt like things were off, but she couldn't think of what it was. Trying to think of what it was just made the feeling worse. Laika gripped her dad's hand tight and ground to a halt as dizziness came and went.

"Laika?"

She didn't reply as took deep breaths. They moved to the side of the steps to let a Gerudo woman past, and it was then, gripping at the railing, looking down at the lake, at the houses built on short stilts above the water, it suddenly hit her.

Where were the Zora?

There had been dozens of Zora before she left for the fountain and now the entire lake was deserted save for a few paddle boats.

Laika said nothing still as she let go, stumbling down the steps as fast as she could, leaving her dad behind and running past her home that a few minutes ago that she so wanted to return to. Instead, she headed for where Beau lived, an inexplicable dread setting in.

She knocked on the door, and a Hylian man answered.

"Where's Beau?"

The man looked taken aback. Laika didn't know who he was, which was silly, she had lived in Tarrey Town for years, she knew everyone at least by face-

"I'm sorry, who? And are you okay? You don't look well-"

"Beau! The Zora! She's a little taller than me, and dark blue scales, and has a big scratch on her face-" The look on the man's face told her all she needed to know. He was concerned, but not the concern of panic, the concern of confusion.

He put on a smile, the kind adults did when they weren't really taking kids seriously, and Laika seethed, how _dare_ he-

"I'm sorry sweetheart, but I'm not following..."

"WHERE'S BEAU? WHERE ARE ALL THE ZORA? WHAT- what's happening...?"

Laika doubled over as dizziness drowned her. Space felt warped, like the world was shifting around her.

The man put a hand on her arm and Laika didn't have the faculty to bat him away. "...The Zora haven't existed for centuries, sweetheart."

Gravity claimed her as the world gave way again.

 

* * *

 

In the darkness, Laika heard a voice, the same voice she had heard not long ago when she was told of her nature.

"I'm sorry you have to deal with this."

She could feel their presence, calm and yet... wild. More awareness came to her, and sight came to her. First the figure from before, crouched in front of her, and then forest bled into being from where he touched the ground.

With awareness came a sense of her body, and a voice to use. "... What's going on?"

They sighed. "...Time is broken."

"How can time be broken?"

Some part of Laika told her that this was the Hero of the Wild that Mija had mentioned before. Her previous life. That concept felt like it should freak her out more than it did, but when they laughed and sat down more comfortably in front of her, it felt normal somehow.

"With a lot of time travel craziness and thousands of years of trying to patch it up."

Another voice floated through the otherworldly forest, different but the same. "It's kinda our fault."

A new figure stepped into the edge of the light of the glade, and leant against a tree trunk. Dressed in darker green and with hair a more muted blonde, the word Twilight surfaced in Laika's thoughts.

"Eh, kinda isn't."

More figures emerged from the trees. The one with more reddish hair and earthen tones to his clothes had spoken with a shrug, and the boy younger than her next to him piped up after.

"Whatever way, it's not my fault. I didn't mess with time."

The Hero of the Wild- actually, Wild was quicker to say- looked over to the newcomers with a frown. "C'mon, we don't want to overwhelm her."

"And telling her time's broken won't?" The youngest retorted dryly, folding his arms in a cartoonish display of displeasure.

Wild pouted, highlighting the youth in his face, and Laika was suddenly made aware of the fact that he wasn't that much older than herself. None of them were, and that thought felt sad for some reason.

"I'm going as gently as I can. Now, can I continue?"

Twilight held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, I just wanted to provide some more context. If you want me to go...?"

"No, it's fine, just..." Wild trailed off, leaving the end of sentence in implication and a sad smile. He turned back to face Laika, the smile turning lopsided. "Uh, where was I?"

Laika giggled at the absurdity of it all. "Time's broken, and it's our fault but also not."

"Right. We sorta had to meddle with time in the past out of necessity? But that causes its own problems... And now things are getting jumbled- _Have_ been getting jumbled, and it is super confusing, don't get me wrong here, but... Time can't reconcile all the different things that could happen? But it's trying, and that's what caused the blip you just experienced."

"You mean, the Zora-"

"Yeah. Don't worry, it's temporary: they're happening all the time, just usually a little smaller than that. We're kind of the only ones that notice them, thanks to us kinda being the eye of the storm."

Laika took a moment to digest this information. "So... Is that my mission thing? To fix time?"

"Uh." Wild suddenly looked out of his depth. "Maybe?"

"Maybe?"

"I'm just telling you what I managed to figure out, I... don't know what you need to do?"

Laika's expression must have been a picture, because the two younger observers broke into snickering, drawing a glare from Wild and Laika each.

The middle eldest (whose colours and clothes made Laika think of faded storybooks and Legends) simply shrugged and grinned. "What? It's funny."

He got a sharp elbow to his side from Twilight, to which he simply smirked. "Well, excu-"

Twilight's gloved hand clamped over his mouth. "Don't. Don't you fucking dare say it."

As the bickering gathered pace, Laika felt oddly calmed by it all. These idiots had somehow saved the world, so maybe she wasn't too badly off.

Wild sighed and gave up trying to silence them. "Don't mind them, they're still getting used to having each others company. You're the first of us to remember this whole past lives thing off the bat."

"Really? You didn't know?"

"They had little to no idea in their times. I only started to remember over a long period of time after I'd done fighting the Calamity. Figured it had something to do with me losing basically all my memory."

Wild held up his hand to stop the questions he was about to be flooded with. "I know you want to know more, but there's time later for that, and I'm pretty sure we don't have much more time right now. I don't know what you need to do as such, but I do know somewhere you'll want to go. There's a place the other side of Death Mountain called the Lost Woods. Make your way to the centre: you'll find help there."

The forest began to fade into mist, mist that was closing in on the two of them and making the still ongoing bickering fade into the distance.

Before the mist took Laika completely, Wild had one last thing. "Oh, and the trick not to getting lost is to follow the wind..."

His voice faded into the mist, and the mist faded into darkness, and the darkness faded away too when Laika opened her eyes to see none other than Beau staring down at her.

"Yo, are you okay Laika? You knocked on the door and passed out..."

Laika's head hurt again, but she smiled. "Yeah, I'm good. Would you believe me if I said I'm feeling a lot better?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Womp womp this chapter is dedicated to the wiki binge I had a while back lmfao.   
> Okay but like shout outs to figmentforms' A Tale of Two Rulers for causing my whole Zelda fixation as of late, the Linked Universe AU for providing sweetass brain fuel and a bunch more fics that I've read for just marinading my brain   
> Anyway this took a while to get the tone right, balance angst and fluff for delicious Umami flavouring, and also kinda recover from my body deciding to bleed profusely for weeks and end up anemic lmao. Don't worry, it's under control now if not fixed : D


End file.
